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I also thought that they had 6 weeks to register a birth at that time but I am sure someone will verify what it was 

Since the GRO's recent attack of relative generosity I have worked through much of my (fairly modest) family tree, recording dates of registration against dates of birth.  A few parents went straight to the registry after a day or two.  The great majority waited until the sixth week, one or two of them apparently arranging a baptism on the same day.  So the evidence seems to be that 6 weeks has been the requirement since registration began.  Very occasionally a parent seems to have forgotten.

It seems that my ggg-grandfather made a habit of going from his farm into Ashburton to register his children as soon as he could.  A boy and a girl (twins) were registered with names the next day in 1842, but the father had to return just 5 days later to register the boy's (this time anonymous) death.  The likelihood of that happening was perhaps the main reason for the typical wait until the sixth week.

But if the information may be inaccurate then I will not take it as fact.

As most of the details on a certificate are answers to a recorder's questions, some of which may have been asked in various ways or not at all, a good deal of them should not be 'taken as fact' in a strict sense.  In my wife's tree is a man who married twice about 5 years apart, and was apparently younger the second time than the first - probably because the first marriage was to a noticeably older widow who reduced her age while he augmented his.  And we all know about variable surnames : I have seen a certificate for a lady named Heywood who quite clearly signed herself Hayward.

Experienced this in 2005 in Scotland. Tradition.

Perhaps it has its roots in days when a coffin might have to be carried a long distance to a church over a 'corpse road' ? Quite likely in rural Wales or Scotland, where parishes were large, hilly and sparsely populated.

On the other hand, an anecdote from industrial south Wales (woman speaking, Welsh accent) : "not a good funeral, only a cup of tea and a sandwich".

I have paid for about 5 or 6 .pdf's at £7 a certificate over the last few months.  I've only just seen the link tonight for a £2.50 jpg image.  This is fantastic news and I can't believe I never saw it before!

Don't forget that a small proportion (a few %) of entries are not available as an online image for some technical reason.